Passport: New Leadership, New Phone, Same Ole Blackberry

It seems Blackberry just can’t help themselves. The company has distanced itself from smartphones in recent months, yet they introduce a new one this week. Today, Blackberry’s chief executive John S. Chen, showed off a new BlackBerry smartphone. Meet the Passport.

As you can see, BlackBerry still has its trademark physical keyboard. Screen size comes in at 4.5 inch diagonal square and has a shape a lot like its moniker, a passport.

Battery life sits at 30 hours of mixed use thanks to its 3,450 mAh battery, the largest of any smartphone currently on the market. The battery is not removable, though. 2 cameras come packed in the Passport, a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front camera. A 2.2 Ghz Snapdragon 801 powers the square phone. Memory sits at 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage.

Exactly how big is it? Dimensions are 5 in. x 3.5 in. x 0.36 in. Wider and thicker than the iPhone 6 Plus, but a bit shorter. But, does it bend?

The BlackBerry Passport is clearly aimed at fans of BlackBerry. The company won’t be poaching market share from iOS or Android with the Passport. Plus, BlackBerry has shifted its focus away from the smartphone market in favor of the enterprise market. BlackBerry’s software has always been decent at security and productivity and they are focusing on providing that tech in the enterprise market.

The Passport goes on sale today and costs $599 off contract.

With the Passport, it’s clear BlackBerry is supporting its base only. I don’t see any Galaxy Note or iPhone users making the jump to Passport. Look for BlackBerry’s focus to remain on enterprise solutions going forward while also supporting diehard BlackBerry consumers.